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Major themes and dramatic techniques in the death of a salesman
Death of a salesman theme essays
Death of salesman themes essay
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The term, “American Dream,” came from American historian James Truslow Adams who first used the term in his published book, “The Epic of America.” According to Adam himself, he believes that the American Dream is the “dream of a land in which life should be better and richer and fuller for everyone, with opportunity for each according to ability or achievement” (Amadeo). The term has been used differently in today’s society and recalls it as maturing, getting married with the love of your life, having a beautiful home, and positioning in a good paying job to provide for your kids. Others say that the dream is to have a better life and do what you love. Either way, it all boggles down to just being happy. The “American Dream” became widely popular in the United States as Adam published his book during the 1930s and has been used in speeches, memoirs, and literature (Fallon). This term became important to the people in the U.S. because it sets a goal for all of the citizens to work hard for their dreams and happiness. Without this vision, most people wouldn’t know what to live for in life.
In the original 1949 play of Death of a Salesman, Arthur Miller was the American playwright. Death of a Salesman was a tragic play that presents a story about a salesman named Willy who believes that personality and being “well-liked” will achieve his American Dream. The play premiered on February 10, 1949 at the Morosco Theatre in Manhattan, New York (Avery). Miller’s play reflected on his relationship with uncle, Manny Newman who was also a salesman like the protagonist of the story and two sons who he took great pride on (Tierney). Through his characterization of Willy and Biff Loman, Miller presents contrasting (or surprising similar) illustra...
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...ng no fun can be just as bad as what Willy Loman has done; he was so caught up in being popular and having these materialistic items that he didn’t get the chance to spend time with his family and do things that he wanted to do.
Works Cited
Amadeo, Kimberly. "What Is the American Dream." About US Economy. About.com, 18 Apr. 2011. Web. 27 Apr. 2014.
Avery, Joe. "Arthur Miller Biography." Bio.com. A&E Networks Television, 22 Feb. 2010. Web. 27 Apr. 2014.
Fallon, George. "The American Dream." Redefining The Dream. Center for a New American Dream, 20 Feb. 2010. Web. 26 Apr. 2014.
Miller, Arthur. "Death of a Salesman." Compact Literature. Ed. Laurie Kirszner and Stephen Mandell. 8th ed. Boston: Wadsworth, 2013. 1262-331. Print.
Tierney, John. "The Big City; Willy Loman: Revenge Of a Nephew." The New York Times. The New York Times, 07 Feb. 1999. Web. 27 Apr. 2014.
Porter, Thomas E. “Willy Loman and the American Dream.” Readings on Death of a Salesman. San Diego: Greenhaven Press, Inc., 1999.
Like countless characters in a play, Willy struggles to find who he is. Willy’s expectations for his sons and The Woman become too high for him to handle. Under the pressure to succeed in business, the appearance of things is always more important than the reality, including Willy’s death. The internal and external conflicts aid in developing the character Willy Loman in Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman.
Within our daily course of life, we can become to lazy or to dishonest without reevaluating what we are trying to achieve. I have personally been sidetracked from my main goal. There are times when I need to finish a project, or homework assignment and instead I become lazy and don’t complete those objectives. In this case, Willy Loman was just trying to achieve happiness the way he knew how. Willy over worked himself, was dishonest to protect the ones he loved, and surrounded himself with people he believed would have his back. In the end, this process of achieving happiness was unsuccessful. Aristotle’s theory on how we must obtain a happy life was proven
Willy Loman will bring his downfall upon himself as he entices his own disillusions and the bedrock of his values pertaining to success and how one can achieve it. His failure to recognize the fruitless outcome of his own idealism will seal his fated suicide and have a determining effect on the failures of his two sons that when adolescent, idolized their father as a guid...
In 1949, the pinnacle of contemporary American playwright, Arthur Miller, published his works “Death of a Salesman”. After the advent of this play, not only caused a sensation in the theaters in the United States, but also became the Western model of modern tragedy as one of the most important drama after America's World War II. Miller was twice won the “New York Drama Critics Award” and also awarded the “Pulitzer Prize.”[
Willy Loman, a hard worker aged to his sixties never accomplished this goal. He always talked the talked, but never achieved to walk the walk. Willy Loman would always talk about who he's met and how he has always well known and liked, but truthfully he never was. "Willy: He's liked, but not-well liked…I got on the road and I went north to Providence. Met the Mayor. (ACT I, lines 232, 234)…Willy: And they know me, boys, they know me up and down New England. The finest people. And when I bring you fellas up, there'll be open sesame for all of us, 'cause one thing, boys: I have friends. I can park my car in any street in New England, and the cops protect it like their own…(ACT I, line 242)." Willy can talk of meeting wonderful and powerful men, but his limits stretch to the Mayor of Providence. Willy Loman's dreams seem to outlive Willy.
Cardullo, Bert . "Death of a Salesman and Death of a Salesman: The Swollen Legacy of Arthur Miller." Columbia University in the City of New York. The Columbia Journal of American Studies, n.d. Web. 20 Apr. 2014. .
The American Dream came to mean fame and fortune, instead of a promise that shaped a nation. (David Kamp, Vanity Fair) This so- called dream has done incredible damage to our companies and corporations in America...
Willy Loman’s tragic flow leads him to purse the idea that reputation in society has more relevancies in life than knowledge and education to survive in the business. His grand error of wanting recognition drove him crazy and insane and lead to his tragic death. Willy’s hubris makes him feel extremely proud of what he has, when in reality he has no satisfaction with anything in his life. Willy Loman’s sons did not reach his expectations, as a father but he still continued to brag about Biff and Happy in front of Bernard. Willy Loman caused the reader to empathize with him because before his tragic death he did everything he could for his family. Empathy, Hubris , and Willy Loman’s tragic flow all lead him to his death that distend for him the beginning.
In brief, it is apparent that Willy’s own actions led to not only his own demise, but his children’s as well. The salesman tragically misinterpreted the American Dream for only the superficial qualities of beauty, likeability and prosperity. Perhaps if Willy had been more focused on the truth of a person’s character, rather than purely physical aspects, his family’s struggles and his own suicide could have been avoided. On the whole, Arthur Miller’s play is evidence that the search for any dream or goal is not as easy and the end result may seem. The only way to realize the objective without any despair is the opposite of Willy Loman’s methods: genuineness, perseverance and humility.
The American Dream was and always will be something that makes America great. It allows those with aspirations to make them come true. In America alone needs is a dream and the motivation to carry out that dream. Ambition is the driving force behind the American Dream. It allows any one that has an aspiration, a desire, a yearning, to carry out the individual dream. It knows no bounds of race, creed, gender or religion. It stands for something great, something that every one can strive towards. A dream can be a desire for something great. In America, the American Dream allows dreams to become realities. According to Webster's New World Dictionary, the American Dream is defined as "An American social ideal that' stresses egalitarianism and especially material prosperity". To live this dream is to succeed. It allows anyone, rich or poor to have the opportunity to succeed. It is the ability to come from nothing and become so me thing. To succeed at any thing you do, you must have patience and persistence. It requires hard work, persistence and a desire for something better. To have these qualities and the desire and ambition to carry the moutis part of the American Dream.
What is the American Dream? That’s a question everyone is trying to answer. People find it in their own unique ways; money, success, freedom, or love. However, these aren’t easily obtained, and in most situations people figure this out the hard way. People can be immensely wealthy but still fail in their journey to the American dream. A man may be the most successful in the world but in his eyes he may have not reached his American dream. People fight for their dream every day, as colonists they had to fight for our freedom and to pursue our dream. Some think that to obtain their dream and goal is to fall in love, but they may never be able to find or have “the one” and will never truly be in love. The American dream is an unobtainable ideal that everyone is still searching for today.
Evensvold, Marty D. "The American Dream: Stories from the Heart of Our Nation." Library Journal Dec. 2001: 200. General OneFile. Web. 20 Apr. 2014.
Miller, Arthur. “Death of a Salesman”: Literature: An Introduction to Fiction, Poetry, and Drama. 1991: 280-317
Willy Loman has been a businessman all of his life. In the first scene of the play his wife Linda states: “But you’re sixty years old. They can’t expect you to keep traveling every week” (964). Willy and his family lives in